Citizens talk at a forum on the direction of candlelit vigils against the resumption of American beef imports at Seoul Plaza, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Candlelight vigils are for the time being on the wane. The number of citizens gathering at the Seoul Plaza is falling fast. Civic groups may no longer find cause to continue them with Washington's approval for the banning of imports of beef from cattle older than 30 months.

The issue of importing beef from older cattle has been one of key complaints that brought tens of thousands of citizens to the streets for more than 40 days. The government will announce what has been agreed with the U.S. Saturday.

A civic coalition organizing the candlelight rallies against the imports of American beef plans to hold a 48-hour relay campaign over the weekend in Seoul Plaza to demand renegotiations of the beef deal with the U.S. But it remains unclear how many citizens will gather at the rally this time.

The coalition held a discussion at Seoul Plaza Thursday night about whether to expand the protesting issues to other policies of the Lee Myung-bak government.

Candlelight vigil participants are divided over what steps they will take. Some agree on the coalition's new plan to protest other government policies and oust President Lee, but others disagree. The coalition organized the discussion with 15 citizen panelists, and bloggers posted their opinions on the coalition's Web site during the live Webcast discussion.

The discussion came hours after the President made a public apology, pledging to prevent imports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months and asking people to give him a chance for a new start.

One of the panelists, 36-year-old doctor Kim Jong-myeong said he could not trust the President's apology, claiming people should restart a campaign for Lee's resignation.

A blogger Seo Jong-tae said, ``If we blow out the candles now, we'll have to feed our children unsafe beef. If we let the President keep his office, we'll have to give up our hope during the remaining five years. We selected him ourselves, so we have to oust him ourselves.''

On the other hand, 27-year-old Kim Hye-mi said current problems cannot be solved by the President's resignation, saying the candlelight protest should become a campaign to change the society, not a campaign to oust Lee.

A university student Im Dae-hwan said the majority of people would not move to kick out President Lee who took office only three months ago.

A blogger ``seungeun'' said that the government has not changed despite the month-long candlelight rallies. ``The number of ralliers has decreased, and it is because they learned that they should seek more practical and effective methods rather than just lighting candles and trying to approach Cheong Wa Dae.''

The coalition said it will collect more opinions at two more discussions next Tuesday and Friday.